The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has bolstered its police actions in the last fiscal year, driven largely by cryptocurrency cases, according to The Wall Street Journal. Under President Trump, the federal derivatives market regulator levied about $900 million in civil penalties in 2018 alone, exceeding the annual amount in five of the eight years

Coinfloor, the oldest bitcoin exchange in the U.K., will lay of most of its 40 employees, according to two sources interviewed by the Financial News. The layoffs at the London-based exchange are in response to “significant” change in market volume, according to Obi Nwosu, Coinfloor’s chief executive, and are seen as a setback for the

The China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), a government organization under the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), plans to release three blockchain standards for smart contracts, privacy and deposits as a way to improve the country’s development of the blockchain industry. The standards, which would be association based, were announced by Li Ming,

Poloniex, the exchange Circle has been working to revive since acquiring it in February, announced in a blog that it will eliminate its margin and lending products for U.S. customers by year’s end and delist three altcoins. The company noted it is removing the margin and lending products in the U.S. to ensure the exchange

A pair of U.S. representatives, Doris Matsui, a California Democrat, and Brett Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican, have introduced a law to create a working group to determine a definition of blockchain. The lawmakers, both of whom sit on the Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on Communications and Technology and Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, believe blockchain

Bitland, one of the first startups to use blockchain technology to create a land registry, has been named to Time Magazine’s “50 Most Genius Companies” list. Time asked its global network of correspondents to nominate businesses that are inventing the future, then evaluated candidates on originality, influence, success, and ambition. The companies are listed in alphabetical order.

The release of season six for the popular Fortnite video game has inspired the development of bitcoin-stealing malware disguised as game cheating tools. Malwarebytes Labs has discovered malware disguised as cheat tools that can steal data and bitcoin from Fortnite gamers, according to Christopher Boyd, the lead malware intelligence analyst. Malwarebytes Labs found the malware

BitMEX, one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, has named Angelina Kwan, formerly managing director and head of regulatory compliance for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), as its chief operating officer. Kwan, who joins the company as it rides exceptional growth, will work with regulators worldwide to develop rules that will support cryptocurrency’s

Tiger Global, a U.K. hedge fund that invests mainly in global consumer brands, is reportedly considering a $500 million investment in Coinbase, which would boost the startup’s valuation close to $8 billion and strengthen the cryptocurrency market’s legitimacy, according to sources that spoke to Recode. The investment would make Coinbase one of the highest valued

Bots that manipulate bitcoin price are not new, and they aren’t going away, according to The Wall Street Journal. The problem continues to draw regulatory scrutiny, as it was cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when it rejected several bitcoin ETF applications in August. Andy Bromberg, president and co-founder of CoinList, which issues tokens,